Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $62.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $75.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on MDLZ. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (down from $74.00) on shares of Mondelez International in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Mondelez International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $78.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Mondelez International in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $82.00 target price on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.13.

Mondelez International Price Performance

Shares of MDLZ opened at $57.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Mondelez International has a 1-year low of $55.97 and a 1-year high of $77.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $61.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.20.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.14. Mondelez International had a net margin of 10.58% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mondelez International will post 3.47 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Mondelez International announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, December 11th that allows the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mondelez International

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 40,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the last quarter. Clarendon Private LLC acquired a new stake in Mondelez International in the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Mondelez International by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 30,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 21,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.32% of the company’s stock.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.